17 alpha-ethynylestriol 3-cyclopentyl ether

ABSTRACT

17A-ETHYNYLESTRIOL 3-CYCLOPENTYL ETHER, ESTROGENIC HORMONE USEFUL IN TREATMENT OF MENOPAUSAL SYNDRONE AND ALL OTHER CONDITIONS OF ESTROGEN DEFICIENCY OR IN WHICH ESTROGENS MAY BE USED THERAPEUTICALLY.

Feb. 5, 1974 R. 1 KRAAY ETAL 3,790,605y

17:: -ETHYNYLESTRIOL 13 CYCLOPENTYL ETHER 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed April 23, 1971 (9N) 'IOHlNOj BEAU BSVHDNI BVHEIAV INVENTORS RUSSELL "J. KRAAY BY EUGENE- FARKAS ATTRNEY Feb. 5, 1974 R, KRAAY ETAL 3,790,65l

l'a-ETHYNYLESTRIOL 5CYCLOPENTYL ETHER Filed April 23, 1971 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 RUSSELL J. KRAAY EUGENE vFARKAS ATTORNEY Feb. 5, 1974 R J. KRAAY ETAL 3,790,605

l'YQ-ETHYNYLESTRIOL C5-CYCLOKPENTYL ETHER Filed April 25, 1971 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 (saNvsnoHl) Nouova alwsvwdonj) 'lw/wdj) INVENTORS RUSSELL J. KRAAY BY EUGENE FARKAS AT TORNE Y United States Patent O 3,790,605 17a-ETHYNYLESTRIOL 3CYCLOPENTYL ETHER Russell J. Kraay and Eugene Farkas, Indianapolis, Ind., assgnors to Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, lud. Continuation-impart of abandoned application Ser. No. 127,690, Mar. 24, 1971. This application Apr. 23, 1971,

Ser. No. 136,671

Int. Cl. C07c 169/08 U.S. Cl. 260397.5 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE 17a-ethynylestriol 3cyclopentyl ether, estrogenic hormone useful in treatment of menopausal syndrome and all other conditions of estrogen deficiency or in which estrogens may be used therapeutically.

CROSS-REFERENCE This application is a continuation-in-part application of our co-pending application Ser. No. 127,690, tiled Mar. 24, 1971, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Estriol, a weak estrogen, has been used to treat menopausal syndrome because, unlike other estrogens, it has a relatively greater action on the vagina than on the uterus. The absolute activity of estriol and its relative lack of oral eicacy, however, have relegated it to an unimportant position in the armamentarium of the specialist treating menopausal symptoms. At present two related compounds, 17a-ethynylestradiol 3cyclopentyl ether (Quinestrol) (Q) and estriol 3cyclopentyl ether (quinestradol) (P) have both been used by physicians treating menopausal syndrome in preference to estriol itself because of their greater activity and oral eicacy. Quinestradol, however, is still an extremely weak estrogen compared to estradiol or 17aethynylestradiol Quinestrol, on the other hand, is similar to other estradiol derivatives in that it causes undesirable stimulation of the uterine endometrium at doses that are effective in alleviating menopausal symptoms, thus causing breakthrough or withdrawal bleeding.

U.S. EPat. 3,051,510, issued Mar. 17, 1970, discloses several 17a-alkylene derivatives of estriol. The compounds disclosed therein are said to have estrogenic, progestational and hypochloesteremic activity. 17a-ethynylestriol and its 17ethyny1 isomer, are both disclosed by Engelfried et al., Arzneim. Forsch. 16, 1518-21 (1966).

It is the object of this invention to provide a potent estriol-like hormone which is orally active.

SUMMARY In fulfillment of the above and other objects, this invention provides a novel compound, 17a-ethynylestriol 3- cyclopentyl ether (named systematically l7a-ethyny1estra- 1,3,5(10)-triene3,16a,17-triol 3-cyclopentyl ether) represented by the formula:

The above compound is a potent estrogen having a favorable uterotropic-vaginal ratio in its hormonal action and, in a second aspect of this invention, there is provided 3,790,605 Patented Feb. 5, 1974 ICC a method of treating menopausal syndrome, either spontaneous or induced, as Well as any other estrogen-deficiency condition utilizing the above compound as the active agent.

l-ethynylestriol 3cyclopentyl ether is a white crystal- EXAMPLE A 3 molar ethyl magnesium bromide Grignard reagent in tetrahydrofuran prepared according to standard procedures, was ltered through glass wool and added slowly to 700 ml. of tetrahydrofuran previously saturated with acetylene at about 0 C. During the addition of the ethyl magnesium bromide, the reaction mixture was cooled to about 0 C. and in addition, acetylene was slowly bubbled through the solution. The resulting reaction produced about 1.75 moles of ethynyl magnesium bromide in 1300 ml. of tetrahydrofuran. Next, a solution containing 10 g. of 16a-hydroxyestrone diacetate (prepared by the method of Leeds, Fukushima, and Gallagher, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 76, 2943 (1954)) in 250 m1. of tetrahydrofuran was added to the ethynyl magnesium bromide solution in dropWise fashion. The reaction mixture was refluxed for 24 hours under a nitrogen atmosphere and was then cooled to about 0 C. About 750 ml. of a saturated ammonium chloride solution was added carefully followed by an equal volume of water. The organic materials were extracted into ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate layer was separated and Washed successively with water and saturated aqueous sodium chloride. The solution was dried and the solvents were evaporated in vacuo. The resulting residue was triturated with about l l. of boiling hexane and the hexane extract discarded. The remaining insoluble material was dissolved in about 1500 ml. of acetone to which was added 5 ml. of 70% aqueous perchloric acid. The solution was transferred to a flask which was stirred magnetically at ambient temperatures for about 12 hours. An excess of solid sodium bicarbonate was added and the resulting mixture ltered. The filtrate was concentrated to a volume of about 250 ml. and diluted with an equal volume of ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate layer was Washed successively with Water and saturated aqueous sodium chloride and was dried. The volatile constituents were removed by evaporation in vacuo. The resulting residue was slurried with chloroform and chromatographed over about 500 g. of orisil. Elution with 3,000 ml. of chloroform, followed by evaporation of the chloroform in vacuo, yielded an orange oil. The oil was dissolved in an ether-hexane solvent mixture to yield crystals of l7-ethynylestra1,3,5(10)-triene 3,l6a,l7a triol-l6,l7acetonide, melting at about 20S-211 C. (The l7-ethynyl-17-hydroxy isomer is produced as a minor component in the reaction of la-hydroxyestrone diacetate and ethynyl magnesium bromide.) Further development of the chromatogram with 1,000 ml. of ether gave a fraction containing both 17a ethynylestriol and the 17,8 isomer, as determined by thin layer chromatography. Finally, elution with 1 l. of methanol yielded, after evaporation of the solvent, a dark brown solid showing only a single spot on thin-layer chromatography. The solid was washed with chloroform and ltered to yield about 5 g. of 17ethynylestriol as a light tan powdery solid melting with decomposition at about 243-5 C. Recrystallization of the solid from an ethyl acetate-hexane mixture yielded light tan crystals of 17a-ethynylestriol melting with decomposition at about 245 C 11.3 g. of 17u-ethynylestriol thus produced were dissolved in 500 ml. of methanol. A 50% molar excess of freshly prepared sodium methoxide in methanol was added. The resulting solution was concentrated in vacuo to a solid comprising the sodium salt of 17a-ethynylestriol. The solid was dissolved with warming in 500 ml. of dimethylformamide. 50 ml. of cyclopentyl bromide were added and the mixture heated to reilux under a nitrogen atmosphere for about 4 hours. The reaction mixture was cooled and then diluted with 1 l. of ethyl acetate and 1 l. of water. The resulting organic layer was washed three times with water followed by saturated aqueous sodium chloride wash and was then dried. Evaporation of the solvent in vacuo yielded a solid residue which Was slurried with chloroform and chromatographed over about 100 g. of orisil. Elution with chloroform yielded a brownish solid residue on evaporation of the solvent. 'Recrystallization of this residue from a mixture of ethyl ether and hexane yielded about 7.7 g. of 17ethynyl estriol 3cyclopentyl ether, melting at about 162-5" C.

An alternative preparation for the last step of the procedure is as follows: 2.1 g. of 17a-ethynylestn'ol were dissolved in 100 ml. of absolute ethanol. A solution containing about 0.6 m1. of thallium ethylate in l ml. of benzene was added with stirring in dropwise fashion. Stirring was continued for another 10 minutes after which time the solvents were removed by evaporation in vacuo. The residue, comprising the thallium salt of 17-ethyny1- estriol, was slurried with 100 ml. of dimethylformamide. ml. of cyclopentyl bromide were added and the mixture heated at 90-95" C. for 4 hours under nitrogen atmosphere. 17a-ethynylestriol 3-cyclopentyl ether thus produced was isolated and puriiied as in the above example.

.As previously stated, l'la-ethynylestriol 3-cyclopentyl ether is a potent estrogen having a favorable uterotropicvaginal ratio in its hormonal action. T'he estrogenic activity of the compound is surprisingly high as measured by the procedure of Reuben et al., Endocr. 49, 429 (1951). In this procedure, treatment groups of 10 immature female mice each are injected with or dosed by gavage with the compound under test for three days at different dose levels. A control group is maintained, which receives only the injection vehicle, corn oil in the case of subcutaneous injection or gavage. The estrogenic activity is measured by the average increase in the uterine weights of the treated mice as compared to those of the untreated mice. Using treatment groups of ten mice each yields statistically signicant results.

FIG. 1 gives the results of this test when subcutaneous administration was employed. The four compounds employed in the test were l7-ethynylestriol 3-cyclopentyl ether (curve 1-A), quinestrol (curve 1-B), quinestradol (curve l-C), and estriol (curve l-D). As can be seen from FIG. 1, |17a-ethynylestriol 3-cyclopentyl ether is about three times as active in its etfect on the uterus as is quinestrol and about ten times as active as quinestradol. Estriol shows little uterotropic activity even at the highest dose tested. Table 1 below summarizes the uindings which are presented graphically in FIG. 1 and coniirms quantitatively the above observations as to relative uterotropic activity.

LFIG. 2 gives the results of testing of three estrogenic hormones by the Reuben test using the oral route of administration. According to FIG. 2, 17a-ethynylestriol 3- cyclopentyl ether (curve 2-A) shows about the same activity by the oral route as by the subcutaneous route shown in FIG. l (curve 1-A). Quinestradol (curve 2-B) is about 34,0 as active as l7u-ethynylestriol 3-cyclopentyl ether, and 17-ethynylestriol is virtually inactive by the oral route in this dose range. The oral activities of the three hormones whch are presented graphically in FIG. 2 are summarized in Table 2 below and these quantitative :figures bear out the above observations as to the unexpectedly greater potency of 17a-ethynylestriol 3-cyclopentyl ether than either of the single substituted estriol derivatives.

TABLE 1.-UTERINE RESPONSE TO DIFFERENT ESTRO- GENS GIVEN SUBCUTANEOUSLY Average increase 8.o. dose uterine Compound (ng/d.) wt. (mg.) i S.E.

17 aethyuylestriol B-cyclopentyl ether 0.03 8.4 1.6 0.1 49.9 d: 2.7 0.3 54.9 d: 3.6 1.0 41.7 d: 2.2

Quinestrol 0.1 7.8 :l: 3.0 0.3 36.0 d: 5.9 1.0 51.1 :l: 3.2 3.0 37.0 :l: 3.0

Do 0.3 11.0 i 1.9 1.0 43.2 :1; 3.5 3.0 49.3 :h 2.6

Estriol 0.3 5.2 :l: 0.5 1.0 7.3 :t: 1.1 3.0 11.8 i 2.3

TABLE 2.-UTERINE RESPONSE TO DIFFERENT ESTRO- GENS GIVEN ORALLY Average ynylestriol 3-cyclopentyl ether has a unique action in its ability to act preferentially on the vagina. It has been demonstrated by Jensen et al., Steroids 13, 417-427 (1969) that the binding capacity of the estrogen binding protein ol' the cytoplasm is reduced after the rat is treated with estrogen. This reduction in binding capacity is signiiicantly lowered at 4 hours after estrogen administration and generally returns to pretreatment levels at 24 hours. Clark et al., Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 192, 508-515 (1969) reported a simple convenient method to determine the amount of estrogen binding protein in the cytoplasma by utilizing the adhesive properties of the protein after it had bound estradiol.

In practice, the determination of the binding capacity of the uterus and vagina for two estrogens was carried out in the following manner. Groups of 6 rats were given a single subcutaneous injection of 0.3 )ig/rat of the test material at 0 time. A control group received only the corn oil vehicle. Groups were sacriced at 4, 24 and 48 hours after treatment and the tissues from the 6 rats pooled. The pooled tissues were homogenized in Tris buffer. A cytoplasmic fraction was prepared by centrifugation in which cell debris and nuclei were removed. Two nCi. of estradiol-6,73H(42.5 CiJmM.) were added to 2 m1. of the cytoplasmic fraction. After 10 minutes a 1 ml. aliquot was transferred to a tube containing mg. of finely ground glass. After a3() minute incubation period, the ground glass was washed 3 times with buffer to remove unbound estradiol. The receptor-estradiol 6,73H complex is then stripped from theground glass with ethanol. The amount of radioactivity is determined by liquid scintillation spectrometry.

A reduction in the amount of radioactive estradiol bound in vitro by the cytoplasmic fraction is an indication that the tissue had previously been exposed to estrogen which reduced the binding capacity of the estrogen binding protein. FIG. 3 shows the results of the above experiment using estradiol or 17a-ethynylestriol 3-cyclopentyl ether. The narrow solid line shows the level of 3H-estradiol binding by control uterine tissue. The narrow crosshatched line gives the level of binding for control vaginal tissue. A dose of 0.3 ,ug/rat of l7a-ethynylestrial 3-cyclopentyl ether reduced the binding capacity of vaginal tissue (curve 3-B) but did not reduce the binding capacity of uterine tissue (curve 3-A). This iinding indicates that 17a-ethynylestriol 3cyclopentyl ether has a prolonged preferential effect on the vagina while not acting on the uterus. By contrast, estradiol depleted both uterine (curve S-C) andvaginal (curve 3-D) estrogen binding protein -by about the same amount.

Table 3 summarizes in quantitative form the data presented graphically in FIG. 3. In Table 3 the data is presented in terms of counts per minute (c.p.m.) per milliliter of cytoplasmic fraction at dilerent time intervals.

In employing l7u-ethynylestriol 3-cyclopentyl ether for treatment of estrogen-deliciency conditions, particularly tions, either natural or induced, can also be treated by the process of this invention.

17a-ethynylestriol 3-cyclopenty1 ether can be administered in corn oil by the subcutaneous route or in tablet form for administration by the oral route. A tablet suitable for oral administration contains the following ingredients:

The above illustrates a dose of ng. in a 100 mg. tablet. If a lower dose, such as 50 ug., is to be employed the parts by weight of the other ingredients would be adjusted so as to provide a tablet of about mg., or any desirable size, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

TABLE 3.INTERACTION OF ESTRADIOL AND 17a-ETHYNYLESTRIOL S-CYCLOPENTYL ETHER WITH UTERINE AND VAGINAL ESTROGEN RECEPTORS CPM/m1. cytoplasmic fraction, time after administration (hours)- Dos 0 4 24 48 s.e..tg. Uterus Vagina Uterus Vagina Uterus Vagina Uterus Vagina Contml o 20, 362 16, 439 17a-ethynylestrio13-cyclopentyl ether--- 0.3 19,312 16,444 23,137 10,229 21,630 17,076 EstradwL- 0.3 11,966 7,464 13,058 10,590

spontaneous or induced menopausal syndrome, a dose We claim: which provides on the average from 5 to 500 mcg. per 1. l7a-ethynylestriol 3-cyclopentyl ether. day is used. In order to obtain the above dosage rate, the compound can be given daily, or less frequently if de- 35 References Cited iyiotyipsolieESZL' UNITED STATES PATENTS 3513179 5/1970 Galamay 26o-397.5

pausal syndrome by the oral route.

The chief estrogen-deciency state Which 17a-ethynylesgzogl 7/1970 Cross et al 26o-23955 triol 3-cyclopentyl ether is useful in treating is meno- 40 Bg 7/1970 Cross et al' 26o-23955 pausal syndrome, either spontaneous or induced. Included 364 (6)11 1/1972' Rolland 26o-'3975 in the term menopausal syndrome are one or more of 9 2 3/1972 Stem et al' 26o-23955 the following symptoms: hot ashes, nervous irritability depression, nocturnal sweating, leukoplakia, senile colpitis: HENRY A' FRENCH Primary Examiner vaginal kraurosis, kraurosis of the vulva, pruritus vulvae, 45 U s Cl XR post-menopausal osteroporosis and premature menopausal 42,4 238 arteriosclerosis. Other similar estrogen-diiciency condi- 

